I'm not much for reviews--I'm too busy watching to do much more than enter a rating--yet this episode is so unusual in the series, I can't help myself.
As other reviewers have said, it appears that this episode was intended as either A) a spin-off to a new series or B) a failed pilot that was re-cut with a few new scenes added and forced into an episode of Emergency! Either way, the result is less than stellar. The doctor's and paramedics of Emergency! wind up having only cameos in their own show. Toward the end of the episode, it appears the paramedics are kept around only for comic relief!
The first hint of something odd, at least on the playback I watched on Net**ix, is that after the standard opening credits for Emergency!, another theme song begins playing--one entirely different from the standard one--and a new set of credits roll.
Next is the lack of any "runs" coming in for Station 51. We never see the guys at the station, we never hear the standard alarms coming in, none of that. Instead, we follow the Animal Control characters. We don't even see a B-roll shot of Squad 51 at any time during the episode, only the Animal Control vehicle.
Most of the actors do a fair job with their parts, however the primary story-line involves a pet goat, and the little girl to whom the goat belongs...oh my, her delivery is poor. And the attempts to add tension simply don't work as well as the producers would have liked, I'm sure. We all know the goat is going to live, after all--this was the 70's, and an unhappy ending was not allowed! And I had to laugh when, after the entire surgical team performs open heart surgery on this little goat, the camera immediately cuts back to the goat waking up on the surgical table and practically jumping off. THAT was a quick recovery!
The one item that all the previous reviewers have mentioned is the appearance of a young Mark Harmon as one of the officers. To see him early in his career is interesting.
Two other things that fascinated me about the show. Early on, Harmon and his partner, "Officer Les," have to tranquilize a tiger. During the attempts to get a clear shot the tranquilizer gun passes from Les to Harmon's character, because only Harmon is where the tiger is. However, as soon as Officer Les shows back up, Harmon immediately hands him the gun, even though he appeared to be ready to shoot just a moment before. It was apparent that this was written in to emphasize which of the officers was the senior officer. Why did this fascinate me? Officer Les is played by a black actor, Albert Popwell. It was obvious that the producers intended to emphasize his character's seniority in the episode (and possible series), over Harmon's white officer, and in 1975 Hollywood, it is interesting to see how they did so in this case. It is just fascinating to get a glimpse of Hollywood reflecting the ongoing social change of that time.
The second item that also fascinates me also revolves around Popwell. While he appears to be just a couple of years older than Harmon, and significantly younger than actor David Huddleston, who plays the vet at the animal shelter, it is exactly the opposite. Popwell was in GREAT shape, and obviously took care of himself, as he was 25 years older than Harmon, and 4 years older than Huddleston. I would have never guessed that he was already 50 when the episode was shot--he looked to be in his late 20's at most--and Huddleston, who was only 45, looked to be in his mid-60s.
If you watch this episode, I believe you will end up focusing more on the format and divergence from the regular Emergency! story lines than on the story itself. In other words, the episode has more to offer from a historical aspect than for being great TV.
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